The Five People You Meet In Heaven
by PerfectPerception
Summary: Because death isn't the end and there are still lessons to be learned, even in the afterlife. Jack-centric.
1. Chapter One

**Unfortunately, the past few years I've lost a handful of people very, very close to me. Besides a supportive family and friends, Mitch Albom's books **_Tuesdays with Morrie_**_,_ **_For One More Day_**, and, the most influential one, **_The Five People You Meet In Heaven_** gave me a sense of closure and acceptance of the people I lost. This story is loosely based on the heaven system used in **_The Five People You Meet In Heaven_** and has given me the capability of coping with another family member I recently lost. This'll be a short chaptered story and I sincerely hope you enjoy.**

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**Prologue  
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Jack Stevens was seventy-five when he died.

It wasn't on a particularly eventful day. It was a rather hot Sunday, in the middle of the draining summer season, and as a normal church session ended and the inhabitants of the the building began to walk out and start on with their respectable day, he wobbled down the cement stairs leading toward the parking lot with a cane in hand.

Years on the farm had strained his back to the point of no return. At the age of fifty-eight, he could no longer hold a plow nor scrape it against soil to till the land and a year later he retired from the vocation all together, moving back to the city to be with his younger sister who compellingly took care of her aging brother with her doting husband and children. Jack was a quiet occupant of his sister's busy household, often cleaning up after himself, minding after their two rambunctious dogs, and always had money to lend to her children who appeared to have holes in their pockets when they were teenagers.

On this relatively mundane day, however, his aging eyes had been unusually sharp, and as his vision scouted the area, waiting for his niece's car to come pick him up, he noticed a young girl, no older than the age of eleven, busy on her phone, standing on the edge of the closest sidewalk. Red headphones were in her ears and strands of her long brown hair gently blew in the soft warm breeze. Lost in her phone, her thumbs began to rapidly move against its keyboard and with a less than sufficient glance at the empty street, she began to cross.

Jack forced his feet to carry him a little faster than they normally could, clumsily following the oblivious girl and panic struck his body as he yelled for her to stop, a car swinging sharply around the corner. Music emitted from her headphones, her eyes still focused on her cell's screen, and he desperately let go of his cane once he was within a close proximity of the girl, lunging toward her.

It all happened too fast for him to comprehend what had actually occurred. He recalled jumping at the girl, twisting his body to shield her as tires screeched and the sound of a horn echoed violently against the day's empty sky.

A girl's young scream filled his ears and someone else's voice yelling out "Chelsea!" shortly followed after.

Then, his world was immersed in darkness.

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**Chapter One**

When Jack Stevens opened his eyes, he was surrounded with grass; some blades weaving their way into the fabric of his clothes and poking his bare skin that lay beneath his shirt and pants. He blinked, staring skywards at the expanding blue atmosphere above him, and he inhaled a deep breath. His body didn't hurt; didn't feel like any metal or rubber had collided into him at 45mph. Instead, his body even failed to have the normal aches and pains he woke up to on a daily basis.

Carefully, he pulled himself into a sitting position, gasping to himself when he noticed the skin on his arms didn't sag from gravity and old age. Instead, his flesh was new, tight, and tan and firm muscles bulged slightly under his shirt's sleeve. He touched his pants next, realizing he wasn't in his gray slacks from earlier and instead in blue denim overalls. Curiously, he lifted up one pant leg, relieved when the skin on his leg was just as young and new as the skin on his arms.

What was happening? How did his age reverse?

"Oh Mr. Jack, I've been expecting you!" rang a cheerful voice before laughter lofted through the air. It sounded like wind chimes almost.

He turned quickly to his left, the direction where the voice had came from, and his heart dropped at the sight before him. "M-May?" he gulped. She smiled at him in return. "But this… this can't be _real_. Y-you died. Years ago. When I was twenty-four."

Realization had struck him then. Hard.

"I'm _dead_." he cried out, numbness reaching to every extremity of his body as the thought of his death crashed into him in a violent wave.

"No need to yell, Mr. Jack, no one else is around to hear you," the young girl flinched. She was just as young and pristine as he had last seen her.

May was one of the few citizens that inhabited the town he lived in when he was a farmer. She was one of the first to introduce herself to the new, aspiring rancher and helped him befriend his then-dog, Rufus, too. However, their short friendship had abruptly come to an end during his third year of residency in Mineral Town when May slipped on patch of ice near the forest's large lake and broke her neck. She was supposed to meet Jack that day, so he could tell her about one of the town's girl he was beginning to fall for.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you staring is rude?" May giggled, holding out her hand for him to take. "Come on, Mr. Jack, I know this meadow is fun to play on but I've got to take you somewhere else so we can talk."

Jack hesitantly took her hand, rising to his feet and followed the tiny girl down the hill and toward the town. His stomach turned and he resisted the urge to blanch, noticing the town was completely empty; the only two souls within the vast area being himself and May. Nonetheless, he went with her without a complaint or protest as she eventually led him past his farm, the winery, the library, the mayor's house, hospital and toward the abandoned church, just as wonderfully peaceful and clean as he last remembered. The two headed toward the back of the building and into a small area he'd play with May and Stu occasionally, and where he managed to forage expensive truffles during the fall season.

Suddenly she stopped and dropped his hand, turning to him, beaming. "Just like old times, huh Mr. Jack?"

Jack was able to catch a glimpse of his reflection in one of the church's windows, carefully analyzing his youthful face with sharp eyes. It had been a change, certainly, going from his aged seventy-five face back to what he looked like over fifty years ago. When he was young, wonderfully naive, and filled to the brim with energy and patience.

He glanced over his shoulder to look at the girl. He cracked her a faint smile and he sighed. "Yeah," he fixed his ball cap before he shoved his hands into his overall's pockets, rubbing the heel of his boot against the ground. "It's definitely something."

"I haven't seen you in what, a bajillion years?" she laughed. "At least I saw you right before I died."

He felt himself recoil at the bluntness of her words. If he had just woken up a little earlier that day, or hadn't catered unnecessarily to one of his moody livestock, or just ran a little faster toward the lake, maybe she'd be alive.

"Oh May," Jack looked at her, pleadingly, feeling his legs crumble under him and he shakily, and less than gracefully, plunked himself onto the stump he and the petite little girl used to play with near the church whenever he frequented Carter with prayers, confessions, or even gifts. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have died so young. It's just not _fair_. I can't imagine what Joanna…"

He trailed off, feeling his insides clench at his mention of the absent mother of May. Since the very beginning of his stay at Mineral Town the woman, not a year older than he was, was never present; never a constant figure in the little girl's childhood. He wasn't the one to ever pry into someone's life, but Barley would offer him small snippets of the woman's past however, barely knew where her present had currently laid; nor gave a thought of her impending future.

May smiled gently at the farmer, resting a tiny hand on his arm as his eyes fell to the grass beneath their feet. "No mommy or daddy should ever have to bury their children. That's not how life is supposed to go; but sometimes, things happen, and the circle of life gets a little messed up." She gave him a sharp poke, gaining his attention once again. "When I died, Mommy came to my funeral, remember? Then her and grandpa made up and she lived with him until he passed away too. Maybe I was supposed to leave so Mommy would stay."

The farmer felt his mouth run dry, marveling at the little girl's astounding and unique perception of her ill-fated death. He always presumed the tiny girl was beyond her years; she was always so intuitive and intelligent, perhaps a little naive at times but that came associated with her age. Some days, however, he'd take her on walks, with little Rufus paddling along, and she'd take his hand in hers and she'd tell him about her new fight with Stu and how stupid boys could be –– excluding Jack, of course –– and what new lesson Carter had taught them about the Harvest Goddess still fresh in her mind and at times, only when clouds covered the sky and the forest faded to a dark green color and the birds' chirps quieted down, did she tell him she felt frighteningly alone, and wondered where her mother had gone to and if Joanna would ever stick around. It was on these intimate walks did Jack come to a silent understanding that May might have been young, yes, but she wasn't foolish or stupid. She internalized her feelings often so Barley wouldn't fuss over her and also, perhaps, in hopes of making herself forgot about her feelings if she ignore them long enough.

"May, why am I here? Is this heaven?" he asked her quietly, bringing a hand to touch the nape of his neck warm from the sun's pleasant glow.

The little girl giggled and shook her head, her pigtails swinging side to side. "No Mr. Jack, it's not. It's my heaven, actually," she replied with a brilliant grin. "Well, just the beginning of it, I guess. I've been waiting for you for a long time to teach you a lesson like Mr. Carter used to teach me and Stu."

"Teach me a lesson?" Jack repeated, swallowing down a lump of hard air that collected in the base of his dry throat.

"Yes a lesson," May piped. "I may be young, Mr. Jack, but that doesn't mean I can't teach you a new thing or two."

The farmer gripped the edge of the stump, silently relieved the feeling in his hands, as well as his other senses, hadn't left him. He never was the one to really give a thought regarding his afterlife, too preoccupied with his busy life happening then and now, but he always assumed his body would go numb or he'd float away like a wispy, weightless cloud of silver thin smoke that was supposed to be his soul.

Casting his eyes upwards to the cloudless sky, he briefly wondered why a deserted version of Mineral Town placed permanently on hold during the spring season had been May's heaven. Despite her unnerving intuition, she was still a child nonetheless and he figured heaven to a small adolescent should have been a never-ending carnival, a candy shop, or a video-game palace. Any place, he thought, that wasn't the boring old town she grew up in.

"You said you waited for me," he mumbled next, meeting her eyes once again, "why me? Why not your grandfather or your mom?"

"Because, Mr. Jack," she smiled, answering him as if it was the most simple question in the world, "you saved me."

"I saved you?" he said, thoroughly confused and lost at the cast off of her words. "But, I… you still died, May. I-if I came sooner, or maybe if I didn't convince Barney to let you play more rather than stay home, you-you," he paused, exhaling a sharp breath ridden with festering guilt that grew in the pit of his stomach, "you'd be _alive_."

May gave him a quick jab to his ribs and he flinched in response, cradling his temporarily bruised side with a hand. "Don't blame yourself for a silly thing like that, Mr. Jack. I waited for you here because you _did_ save me, maybe just not the way you wanted." She bent down and plucked a Toy Flower from the ground, offering it to him. He quietly took it, holding it gingerly in his free hand. "You know, the minute you pick a flower, it begins to die, even if you put it in a vase filled with the best water and place it near a window so it'll get a lot of sunlight."

He looked at her desperately, and she stared back, unwavering, gleaming under the sunlight that gently fell across the quiet town.

"And it'll die if you keep it stuck to the ground," she continued, "but at least when you pick a flower and put it in a vase in your house or give it to a pretty girl, its free, it travels, and everyone's able to look at how beautiful it is. If you hadn't come along, Mr. Jack, if you hadn't taken me on walks or to the beach to play with your doggie, I'd be all alone in my house with grandpa. I love grandpa, but he was always so busy with the farm and all the cows and sheep. I don't like being alone, no one does. Sometimes days feel like years when you're alone, you know. If you didn't tell grandpa to lighten up on me, I'd be stuck to the ground. But instead you picked me up, you took me to places I never really visited around town, and I became friends with all the pretty girls, and I was happy again, even when mommy still wasn't home."

She smiled at him again and this time, the sun felt a bit more warmer and a bit more pleasant at that fleeting moment.

"So Mr. Jack, I'm here to tell you to let go of all your guilt," she giggled. "Because you've always been guilty over things that were never really your fault, like when your cows or chickens or sheep died. You forget to realize that you gave your animals a wonderful life with a big yard to roam around in and a warm barn to sleep in. You're guilty that you didn't save me in time and you're guilty because I died when really, you're the reason I was able to live. Now, Mr. Jack, you helped me again, and I'm finally able to move on and you're ready to meet the next person."

"I have more people to meet?" he frowned, standing quickly to his feet as the earth shook beneath them. The world around him began to blur; the colors colliding into each other like a kaleidoscope and he glanced at May in alarm. "You're not staying with me?"

"I gotta go, Mr. Jack," replied May, unfazed by the rapidly changing scenery surrounding them. "I have to move on. But you still have four," she held up a hand proudly, wiggling four small little fingers at him, "more people to meet. Each one will teach you a lesson like I did. I hope I see you soon, Mr. Jack!"

"Wait!" he called after her. "Did I ever save the girl?"

And within a split second, with a whirl of color and the uncomfortable feeling of loss of gravity, May blatantly ignored his question, waving at him before she vanished from his sight, and in her place was an ever-expanding ocean.


	2. Chapter Two

**Here's the second installment for the story! Thanks to all of those who reviewed and gave this plot a chance!**

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**Chapter Two**

Jack scanned the surrounding area around him, first observing the calm glistening sea, then to the large ship he was on; his heart racing as he realized it appeared similar if not exactly the same large vessel he had traveled on his first trip over to Mineral Town from the city with his parents when he was still a young boy. Except this time, he noted, it wasn't bustling with a crowd of people. Instead, it was completely desolate of life, almost as silent as the ocean the impressive ship was sailing on.

His vision quickly flickered toward his right side upon hearing a slight cough, abruptly finding himself staring at a blond boy wearing a blue cap nearly identical to Jack's. The brunet blinked, immediately noticing the boy was soaked head to toe with what seemed to be ocean water from the stringent, particularly strong smell radiating off him.

"'Bout time," the blond boy smirked, raising to his feet. Jack took a step back in surprise, realizing the water dripping from the boy continued on and on, never once stopping. It appeared as if the boy was forever drenched with water as droplets resurfaced on his skin while others trickled down his flesh, rendering him incapable of becoming dry despite the sun's intensified heat beating down on the ship's open deck. "I've been waiting for you for a while."

"I'm sorry," Jack frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he awkwardly scratched the nape of his neck with his hand. "I don't think I've ever met you before."

The boy leaned casually against the deck's railing, a sly smirk still plastered on his tan face. "You haven't," he confirmed, "in fact, I haven't actually formally met you before either, till today at least. The name's Mark."

"I don't understand," murmured Jack, "are you the next person I'm supposed to talk to?" Mark gave him a curt nod and the brunet's frown became even more weighted than it was before. "But I don't know you. I knew May –– I mean, no offense, but I don't think a complete stranger can teach me a lesson about my life."

Mark tapped his chin gently with his index finger, his bright demeanor still clinging tightly to his youthful features. "Under normal circumstances, no, _but_," he pressed forward, "a stranger who died on the same ship to save you is a different story."

The brunet's interest in Mark had suddenly peaked and he furrowed his eyebrows once again, visibly uneasy at his counterpart's carefully placed words. He swallowed slowly, shifting uncomfortably in his place, and averted Mark's gaze before questioning quietly, "what do you mean?"

"You remember this ship, don't you, Jack?" Mark began, gently patting the railing beside him. "I could tell the minute you opened yours eyes you realized this was the same ship you and your parents traveled on for your first trip to Mineral Town decades back."

He then pointed to a thick rope tied to one of the metal knobs on the deck, grimacing before he wiped a wet strand of hair out of his eyes.

"I was on the ship too. I was on my way to Sunshine Islands; a few miles away from Mineral Town. The day that I died, you were playing on the deck one morning while everyone else was eating breakfast. A line had somehow snapped and, jeez you had to be six or seven back then, right? There was no way you noticed; you were too busy looking at the seagulls flocking around the ship. I could see the line swinging towards you so I grabbed onto it instead so you wouldn't be hit. I lost my footing when I grabbed onto the line and fell overboard and being so young and so distracted with the birds you never noticed so I, well, drowned."

Jack felt his stomach violently twist and turn; the reason behind the blond's drenched clothes, skin, and hair immediately dawning upon him. Swiftly shutting his eyes, he refused to clear his vision to spare another glance at Mark again, completely and utterly ashamed and perturbed at his own involvement in Mark's death.

"Don't feel bad, Jack," the blond soothed, smiling gently at him. "It was my time to go."

"But if I hadn't…"

"Listen," Mark began, placing a comforting hand on Jack's broad shoulder, forcing the other man to open his eyes upon contact. The brunet felt his shoulder dampen as the blond's hand continued to drip with ocean water. He suppressed a shiver. "I'm probably never going to be able to tell you this ever again, so hear me out, okay? People are meant to die. Don't roll your eyes at me. We're all placed on this earth with the intent of dying. We're like ticking time bombs. Don't you understand? As morbid as it may sound, we're _supposed_ to die, to make way for someone else to be born."

He pushed himself off the railing, turning his body around to lean over the edge, his eyes drifting across the glimmering waters. "You see, Jack, death is inevitable in every life. People go through their lives never expecting it when, in retrospect, it's the only guarantee we have in life. While we shouldn't celebrate death, per say, we should embrace it because who really wants to live two hundred years? Certainly not me. I thought being twenty was a killer."

Mark's laugh rang across the horizon and Jack fidgeted uncomfortably in his place, unsure what to say or do. He couldn't bring himself to really speak with the stranger that had given up his young life for Jack's. Jack felt himself so at loss; rendered stricken and incapable of forming any words comforting enough or worth anything. He could never bring Mark back to life and instead of repaying back the blond he was forever in debt to, he was being taught a lesson by the boy instead.

"What I'm really trying to say though," continued Mark, looking over his shoulder and toward the brunet, "is that life and death balance each other out. There isn't a minute that goes by on earth without someone dying and someone being born. And because of life and death, we're all interconnected, don't you see? My death connects to your life because, in the end, deep down inside, we know all lives are somehow intertwined with one another. It somehow brings strangers like you and I together. Maybe because death missed one person and took the next, or because someone lived while others had to die. There's a method, a reason behind it. Death isn't something to be feared, because without death, life would become meaningless, and without life, there would be no point for death."

"But death can be unfair," Jack pointed out. "Like yours. You didn't need to die, you know."

"Of course I know that," Mark chuckled, examining his hand as it continued to drip water onto the floor beneath him. "But if fairness was a criteria to death, everyone would be running around trying to perform good deeds. In its entirety, it seems like a wonderful idea, but then suddenly no good person would ever die and our world would become overpopulated, resources as well as space would run out, and society would die out anyway. There's a theory; a logic, Jack, behind the cycle of life and death."

The brunet shook his head in frustration, letting out a sharp sigh as his shoulders tensed. His head was beginning to throb as words poured from Mark's mouth; seeming to float too far above Jack's head for the farmer to grasp their meaning. Nothing Mark had said to him lessened the feeling of guilt pressing against his chest. Because in the end, Jack had lived and Mark had died when the latter had no reason to die because of the simple lack of observation and awareness from Jack.

"What's your lesson then?" he pressed impatiently. He rotated his wrists, trying to loosen the anxiety that began to build within him. His eyes darted across the scenery as he desperately waited for this lesson to be done with.

"Accept death, Jack, because there's really no reason not to," shrugged the blond boy. "You're allowed to grieve over your own death or someone else's; you're allowed to be in denial, to be mad, but you can't keep asking why you died and why someone else didn't or why someone else died and why you didn't instead. There's a reason why some people pass away and why others don't."

"What was your reason to die, then?" Jack frowned. "For my stupidity?"

"You were a mere child; you were innocent," Mark replied. "You had no idea that trying to chase seagulls would account for me dying. Guilt doesn't make anything better, you know. Especially in this case because, in the end, we're both dead, right?"

"Stop making jokes," sharply hissed the farmer. "This isn't something to humor."

A faint smile curled at the blond boy's lips. "What did the person before me teach you, Jack?"

"To let go of my guilt," Jack murmured reluctantly.

Mark quirked an eyebrow upon his counterpart's response. "Because?"

Jack scowled and Mark laughed at how the farmer's sour expression made him appear ten times older than he was. "Because," he forced himself to continue, "even if I hadn't saved May like I wanted to… she still lived in her own way in the end."

"_And_?"

"And because guilt, like you said, doesn't change anything."

"Guilt and death often associate with one another," the blond added, "you've seen a lot of death in your life, Jack, and you've always been a decent person so it's more than understandable as to why you feel guilty over death, even when its not your fault. But like you said, feeling guilty doesn't change a damn thing. Especially death. Remember what I said, while it's always a guarantee in life, it's also what makes life _worthwhile_. It's what makes you cling to families, friends, and even strangers. Death's a funny thing. A cruel thing. But it never lets you go a day without thanking your lucky stars you're alive and the people you _love_ are alive."

"I understand, I just… I don't want to _accept_ it, because of what it's taken from me," Jack muttered, feeling his insides swell as he heard his voice crack.

"Just be glad death gave you the opportunity to appreciate what it took from you," responded Mark, giving the farmer another final pat on the shoulder. "It's the only thing on earth that makes you really appreciate anything."

This time, Jack noticed, his shoulder wasn't damp from Mark's hand. He looked at the blond boy, his eyes widening as he stared on with awe as the water began to evaporate from Mark's body. The youth gleamed now under the sunlight, no longer weighted down by the heavy ocean water. Another brilliant smile adorned the blond's face and Jack had a tugging feeling that Mark was beginning to move on while he still had three more people to go.

Unlike the chaotic shifting scenery that occurred in May's world as she finally transferred over to heaven, a familiar landmark came within view instead and the large ship slowed until it docked on the pier. Jack glanced at the blond again, uncertainty painting across his face's expression.

"Took some convincing but I think you finally got the essential concept, even if you don't want to necessarily embrace it yet," Mark smirked. "As you probably already figured out, my journey stops here, but yours continues on. Take care and it was a pleasure to finally meet you, Jack."

"I'm sorry," Jack croaked weakly. "I'm so sorry."

The blond shook his head. "Don't be sorry, not for my death. You could be sorry, however," the farmer involuntarily flinched, "for scooping up my hat and claiming ownership on it without even looking around to see if anyone had dropped it. You're lucky you look almost as good as me with it on."

Mark chuckled to himself as Jack felt his eyes growing wide at the dawning realization, instantly bringing a hand to the cap that rested on his head for most of his youth and young adult years. He vaguely remembered finding the hat lying astray on the deck of the ship decades back and, after a bit of whining, convinced his mom he could keep it –– after she washed it, of course. While Jack was lost in his thoughts, without warning, the blond gave him another push and suddenly the farmer found himself on the pier of a familiar town. Where he had started on with May.

He was here, once again, in Mineral Town.

**Yep that was Mark from Island of Happiness/Sunshine Islands; still to this day one of my favorite main protagonists of all the Harvest Moon games. Also, this chapter was modeled off the Blue Man's chapter in **_The Five People You Meet In Heaven_**. Mark's general lesson is different from the Blue Man's, but the idea of life and death balancing each other out is based upon the Blue Man's take on how essential death is in life and how his own death, caused by the main character, was necessary. Next up will be Jack's love interest mentioned in May's chapter. Two lessons done, three more to go, Jack!**


	3. Chapter Three

**Finally, here's chapter three! I'm not as proud of this chapter as I am with the previous two, but we're just that much closer to finishing this story!  
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**Chapter Three  
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Like the last time he walked upon this town's ground, the area was completely desolate of life. All that lingered in his ears was the sound of waves being pushed away and pulled toward the shoreline; not even the gawks of hovering seagulls lofting through the still air. The scene unfolding before him had been just like the previous visit, only this particular moment, the weather felt slightly more warm with a cloud of mild humidity hanging about.

Jack had assumed the season changed and he was walking through Mineral Town toward the end of summer instead of spring. No May ran to him now, and he wordlessly guided himself through the small area by himself, completely and utterly alone.

The gnawing feeling bit irritatingly on his insides, and he attempted to push the unwelcoming and perpetual loneliness to the back of his mind. Eventually, after endless wandering and futilely attempting to open the locked stores and houses he once knew so well, he decided to venture back to his farm. Perhaps there, he silently mused, he could gather his thoughts and figure out where to go from there.

As he reached the cobbled street directed toward his old house, he could see the red chipped paint of his barn and the green, borderline-overgrown, fields of grass he so diligently worked on during his youth. The pungent smell of animals hit his nostril in a large wave and his eyes ghosted over the property, wondering, with a little hope, that maybe Rufus would be eagerly paddling up to him with a wagging brown fluff of a tail and two big floppy ears flying in every direction.

What he saw instead made his breath hitch, his eyes widening as he watched a familiar figure stop at his house's front entrance, knocking gently on the aged wood. He did another double take as the door creaked upon and out stepped a young replica of him, all charming smiles and boyish dimples.

"P-Popuri?" Jack heard himself call out, almost angry at this young version of himself taking the aforementioned woman's hand in his, kissing the top of hers.

In return, she appeared to have not heard him, giggling as the young Jack showed her a wiggling Rufus in his arms. After giving the small dog a quick pat and high-pitched airy coo, she linked arms with the younger image of the farmer, and Young Jack led her to the chicken coup a few yards down.

It was then that Jack realized what he was seeing memories he held the closest to; clung the most to. Memories that involved the pink-haired Chicken Princess with an ill but sweet and kind mother and an overprotective brother and absent father. The woman who had managed to capture his interest during his residency at Mineral Town; the town's youngest girl with blinding optimism and a pretty smile.

Without hesitation, he followed the young couple but not without placing space between them and himself; nearly afraid he'd interrupt the intimate moment shared between the two. He walked a few feet back, watching as Young Jack showed Popuri the many chickens who prospered on the farm; the tiny yellow chicks bouncing around the end of her red dress as she squealed in pure delight, scooping up as many as she could to admire their fragile, fidgety bodies.

The day wore on, and Jack continued to track the couple down. The afternoon lulled by as Popuri graciously helped Young Jack water his crops, brush his cows and sheep, and tend to his horse and entertain Rufus, and as the night ascended in the sky, Young Jack led her to the goddess pond to offer the pristine body of water gifts and flowers. The two laughed and often glanced at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking, talking in hushed voices, like they were exchanging secrets Jack just couldn't bring himself to remember.

Just as the two had seemed to have finished their outing, Young Jack looked at Popuri, running a finger through her pink hair that gleamed beneath the moonlight and without hesitation or fear, placed a chastised kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, she simply smiled at him knowingly, and laced her fingers with his, giggling as she led him down the trail toward his farm house.

Jack touched his lips, watching the couple fade into the darkness of the night. This had been the first time he ever kissed her, ever breathed in enough courage and fought back enough insecurities. It was probably one of the best memories he'd ever recall.

His hand fell to his side, jerking suddenly at the sound of a whimsical laugh beside him. His shoulders relaxed, his eyes falling on a slightly older version of the girl who just left his eyesight. "Popuri?" he asked, hesitatingly as his chest ached from subconsciously holding his breath in for so long.

"Hello Jack," she greeted warmly, walking into his vision. The petite woman was wearing a light red sundress, barely hitting below her knees, with her familiar pink hair in soft curls. A flower was held loosely between her hands, dangling as she approached him.

She looked just as breathtakingly beautiful as he last saw her.

"When I was little, Mama always used to tell me stories about soul mates," she said airily, pulling him back to reality as his mind began to drift off to the past. "She always told me Papa was her soul mate and that, there's this myth, a Greek myth, that people were originally born with two heads, four arms, and four legs. But mortals had done something to offend the gods so they split us humans into halves, condemning us to spend the rest of our lives trying to find our other half; our soul mate."

Jack felt a slight smile curl at his lips, watching as moonlight waltzed across her unmarred skin that always reminded him of his mother's pristine china dolls his dad had bought her for her birthday one year. Popuri always had this uncanny ability to make him feel at ease; to make him feel like he was so close to home, even if he was miles away from it. Perhaps that was what had drew him immediately to her upon his arrival to Mineral Town.

"Do you believe in soul mates, Jack?"

He shrugged before giving her a faint grin. "Maybe. Do you?"

"I do," she answered firmly. She locked ruby red eyes with his honey-brown ones. "Do you think we were soul mates?"

For the first time since he stepped foot on his property, he frowned. Bitterly. He could almost see her recoil slightly at him. "Poppy," he began lowly, "don't say things like that… not when we… well, you…"

"Ran off with Kai," she finished for him without missing a beat.

"Well, I suppose," he mumbled more to himself than to her, his vision falling from her. "And, not only that, if we actually _were_ soul mates, I wouldn't have…"

"Pushed yourself away from me after May died," she concluded nonchalantly.

The words clung to the moist air as the sound of crickets chirping flickered on and off every few moments. He swallowed down a hard lump of air that collected in the base of his throat, shoving his hands into the pockets of his overalls, still incapable of bringing himself to meet her eyes.

"Well," she said, her voice slicing through the temporary silence. "I think we were. I _loved_ you, Jack. I still do."

"But," he frowned again, "if we were soul mates then don't you think we would've ended up together? Instead of you and Kai's ship sinking?"

She tilted his head at him, giggling to herself as she shook her head. "Oh silly, we're here together right now, aren't we?"

"But you died and––"

Popuri smiled brightly, twirling the delicate flower adorned with pink in her hand. "Loving someone alive or dead is still love, silly. A first love, a last love, a distant love, falling in love; falling out of love: At the end of the day, it's all still _love_, Jack. And that's what really counts."

She placed the flower in her hair and before he could refrain himself, he found his fingers running themselves through her loose pink curls. Flushing at his involuntary action, he retracted his hand slightly and she giggled at his visible embarrassment before taking his retreating hand with hers, carefully threading their fingers together. His eyes had settled upon her face, greedily taking in her unscathed features. She was always so _beautiful_. Perhaps she didn't contain beauty as sultry as Karen's, nor as subtle as Mary's, but there had always been something so mesmerizing about her.

"You see, Jack, even when people pass away, love still remains," she smiled. "It just takes another form. Maybe you can't touch them again or hold their hand, or even talk to them just to tell them you love them one last time, but you can still remember them; remember how you _feel_ about them. Remembering is so important, because it's all that we have left in the end."

She brushed her fingers gently against his knuckles before letting go.

"People may die, but love doesn't, Jack. Remember that."

He frowned, the warm sensation of her hand on his fizzling away.

She laughed again, poking his shoulder. "Are you listening to me?" When his eyes met hers, she continued, "people go through life disregarding love, rejecting it, because they don't want to be hurt by love when really, it's the only thing we can either give or receive to those left after someone passes away."

"Are you telling me I didn't love enough after you died?"

"No, no. Perhaps you tried to hide from it, but it always found you. In a different form than our love, of course. Your sister loves you dearly, and her children grew up always adored you, and the people of this town missed and loved you when you moved away. See love… well, love is what really impacts those who are left behind. You did a good job of loving those who loved you back, you know?"

Jack gingerly pushed her hair off her shoulder, watching it fall elegantly on the arch of her back. "Are you sure, Poppy? I let you go with Kai without a fight. If you didn't go, you wouldn't have been on that ship…"

"You're missing the point, Jack," she laughed, "if you didn't love me enough then I wouldn't be here, standing in front of you. Love is what helps life and death balance each other out; its the most prevalent in them too. Why do you think people gather at funerals and births of babies? That's where love lingers the most. When a child is born and when a person dies, that's where love is _shown_ the most."

She dropped the pink flower off into the Goddess Lake, watching it slowly sink to the bottom of the pristine body of water.

"People reject love so often, it's so sad. After all, love is the only thing that keeps us from falling completely apart." Her eyes peered at him again. "Jack, are you listening?"

He quickly nodded his head in reassurance. "Of course I am. I'm just wondering if it's almost over?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Is what almost over, Jack?"

"These lessons," he answered in a quiet, defeated mumble as his eyes fell downcast to the grass beneath their feet. "I'm so tired, Poppy. I want to go home, but I'm not even sure where that is anymore."

He felt the soft brush of her fingers across his cheek and he lifted his gaze, meeting hers once again. Honestly, he almost wished the lessons stopped now, so he could stay in this empty town with Popuri, enjoying all the seasonal activities they should have immersed themselves in if Jack hadn't pushed her to the point of no return when she boarded a ship with Kai at the end of summer, sailing off forever.

"Home is where your heart is, silly," she giggled, letting her hand gently rest on the crook of his neck.

"Will you be there?" he felt his voice drop into a whisper at his childish question.

Popuri smiled brilliantly, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "Maybe," she said softly, "it depends if you want me to be. But you're not done yet, Jack. You still have two other people to meet and two more lessons to learn."

There was a sudden prominent ache in the young man's chest, the thought of losing Popuri once again gnawing at his mind. "Will you wait for me?" he asked lowly. She blinked and he clarified, "I mean, in heaven. Or whatever's after this when you pass over. Do you mind waiting?"

"I waited so long to see you," she replied earnestly, slipping her hand away from him. He bowed his head in apology until the warmth of her hand was replaced with the warmth of her lips as she kissed him right then and there. She smiled shyly as she pulled away, adding softly, "I guess waiting a little more won't hurt."

"Who's next, Poppy?" he questioned, allowing her to lead him wherever she was intending to take him.

She shrugged, letting his hand take hers and she lead him back toward his farm and past the town. "I'm not sure, you'll have to find out yourself."

Eventually, he found himself back on the quiet beach. His boots sank in the soft sand, cool from the dim moonlight, and his heart sank as another large vessel flooded his vision. He glanced over his shoulder to look at Popuri again and she had a faint grin weaved across her lips, nodding for him to go ahead without her.

"I'm sorry time was so short between us, Jack; I'm just so awfully sorry for a lot of things. But I'll see you again, I promise."

Jack could feel her hand become weightless in his as her entire body grew transparent before his very eyes. He let his fingers trace the outline of her cheek, nodding wordlessly as she became less and less visible while a heavy feeling settled in the base of his throat and his chest constricted slightly. "I promise to find you," he murmured.

_I promise, this time, I won't let you go._

"I love you, Jack," she whispered gently before she completely faded away, allowing her words to linger in the night's air.

He frowned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his overalls, and stepped into the ship by himself. As the large vessel began to move from under his feet and the dock of Mineral Town slowly descended into darkness, he leaned on the nearest metal railing, sighing quietly to himself as his eyes swept across the desolate ocean.

"I love you too, Poppy."


	4. Chapter Four

**Thank you so much for the feedback guys, it really means a lot :) And it's almost done! Can you believe it? One more chapter after this so please stay tuned!  
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**Chapter Four  
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Dark clouds brew above the ship and the previously calm sea became choppy and restless. Jack felt his hands tighten around the railing, bracing himself against the violent waves crashing into the ship. Warm precipitation began to spit down at him until a steady rainfall formed, soaking him and the empty area he was standing upon. He squinted against the breeding darkness, the storm blurring his vision, as the ocean continued to sharply rock the vessel back and forth and wobble his balance.

"Hey!" called out a voice, distorted from the heavy downpour.

Jack glanced over his shoulder, barely able to trace the outline of a distant figure near an entrance to a stairway leading down below the deck. He didn't need to identify who was yelling at him –– far too concerned with getting out of the rain –– and quickly scrambled toward his escape from the raging storm, flinging himself into his momentary safety.

He felt his chest heave, regaining his lost breath, as he sank to his knees. He rubbed his arms soaked from the rain, shivering violently until he felt the heavy material of a blanket draped across his broad shoulders. He sighed in silent relief, peering upward to look at his savior only for his mouth to run dry and a burst of anger coarse through his veins.

"Kai," he managed, stoically.

The tan man nodded with an easy smile. "Jack," he greeted rather forced, "it's been a while, huh?"

"You could say that."

Kai motioned for Jack to stand on his feet, giving him a slightly strained smile before saying, "follow me, I just got done brewing some coffee in the kitchen before you came. It's warmer in that room anyway. Electricity just went out though so until I light some candles, watch your step."

"Alright," muttered the farmer, straining his eyes against the impending darkness as he struggled to keep up with the sailor who was already familiar with the ship's floor plan. Eventually Jack stumbled into the kitchen, groping aimlessly in the dark in attempt to prevent himself from walking into a wall or hitting a sharp corner of a table or counter, and navigate safely through the room.

"There we go," Kai's voice rang out with a hiss from a match being lit accompanying his words.

Within minutes spots of the kitchen were dimly lit with candles and two cups of coffee were placed at a small oval table. The boys sat across from each other, lapsing into silence momentarily as rain pelted itself against the windows and the wind continued to violently sway the vessel. Jack had his hands wrapped around his mug, trying desperately to warm them while the blanket draped across his shoulders grew slightly heavier as it soaked in some of the rain that collected in his clothes.

Abruptly Kai cleared his throat and the farmer almost jerked in his seat. He drew in a deep breath, raising his gaze to meet the sailor's.

"So," the tan boy mumbled rather awkwardly and with vivid uncertainty, "I guess I'm the next person to… y'know, teach you a lesson, or something." Jack nodded stiffly in agreement, unsure of how to verbally respond. "Well, I uh… Well, this is the place I've been waiting in for you after I died."

"Oh," lamely observed the farmer.

Kai grimaced slightly. "Yeah. I guess you're wondering why it's so stormy––"

"This… It looked like _this_, didn't it?" Jack blurted before he could filter his words. Never in his entire life did he think he'd be given the opportunity and time to sit down with the man that stole the love of his life away. The same man that died in a shipwreck, the same shipwreck that claimed Popuri's own life as well.

The sailor didn't meet the brunet's eyes. "You mean the night that I died?" He took Jack's silence and uncomfortable expression as a silent yes. "Yeah. Same ship, same weather conditions; it always gets this stormy at night. It's been on an infinite loop since I got here. It's hard to sleep sometimes."

"That's… that's awful," frowned Jack, biting the inside of his cheek as his stomach grew unsettled. Anxiety began to fester in the pit of his stomach, raging within him. "I-I never… I didn't think…"

"I'd end up here?" the tan boy finished for him. "Neither did I." He laughed bitterly, grinning sourly at the farmer. "I bet you finally feel bad for me after all these years, huh?"

When the boy in question failed to answer, Kai shook his head, sighing to himself. "You know Jack, anger and hate are dangerous things," he mumbled, his eyes fixated on the flickering flame of the candle set before them. "It took me a long time to _not_ be angry at you for this."

"I thought May said wherever you waited was supposed to be your own version of heaven," the farmer murmured quietly.

Kai shook his head before rapping his knuckles against the wooden table. "Not necessarily. I think that's what May was led to believe. Children have it easier here. They're far more pure than adults, so the place they wait in is relatively more pleasant." He paused, glancing at Jack. "My heaven, well, I thought it'd be on this same ship, I suppose, but it wouldn't be on the same night that I lost Popuri and my life."

Jack couldn't bring himself to meet Kai's eyes, his vision wandering everywhere in the dimly lit room besides the boy sitting right before him. He knew the sailor could nearly taste his discomfort, and yet, Kai didn't seem to thrive on it, nor even care or regard it to begin with. Kai just looked awfully tired now, so awfully tired and _alone_. Jack felt his stomach lurch at the thought.

The sailor chuckled bitterly to himself. "You know, I used to hate you. I hated the way you treated Popuri after May died; the way you'd push her away, the way you'd talk to her. But at the same time, I got her in the end, didn't I? Only for us to die when I finally did." He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing quietly. "I was still too late, huh? Maybe if she didn't love you, maybe if you didn't love her, her and I could've had _our_ happy ending. I always thought if we just left together another year, another _day_, I wouldn't have died and neither would she."

A streak of lightening lit the sky with a loud roar of thunder scampering after it. The ship shook slightly before continuing to rock back and forth. Kai's gaze remained on Jack and the farmer's stare, in response, fell downwards onto the table.

"Hate is such an ugly thing," the traveler grinned crookedly. "It's like a double-edged sword. The minute you hate someone, the minute you try to inflict pain upon them, the other end of the sword ends up sinking into you too. Sometimes, your end goes in deeper than the other. It's dangerous, it's deadly, and it _hurts_ either way."

"I… I never thought of it like that," Jack swallowed thickly.

Kai smirked at him. "You see, Jack, you can hate someone with all your heart, with all your soul, but all that loathing, all that distaste, doesn't affect them like it affects you. You're the one using all this energy up hating someone; you're the one whose stomach turns or fists clench at the thought of them. You're doing more damage to yourself, physically and mentally, than you are to the person that you hate."

He laughed softly before continuing, "I used to sit here on this ship and hate you but then I realized one day, after years of hating and thinking of all the horrible things I could say to you when you finally died, that all of this hate, this ugly, energy-draining hate, hadn't affected you the least bit all those years you lived. In fact, you couldn't even _feel_ it, could you?"

Jack averted his steely gaze, fiddling with the ends of the dark purple blanket wrapped around his body. He bit the bottom of his lip, feeling Kai's fixated stare on him, and cleared his throat nervously. "N-no," he mumbled.

"And if you did, by chance, hate me too, do you think I was affected by it?"

"No," frowned the brunet.

"This place," Kai gestured to the windows being pelted by the violent downpour from outside, "this wasn't created by you. This suffering wasn't because of you. It _all_ was because of me, because I couldn't let things go and apologize and forgive. Do you understand, Jack? If you don't let go of your own anger and hate, you'll find yourself in this same place."

Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes tracing the rim of his untouched mug as he refused to meet the sailor's stare. "I'm…" he frowned, swallowing down the bitterness that threatened to spill onto his words, "I'm sorry, Kai." At that, he finally lifted his gaze to Kai. "I didn't… I mean, despite everything that happened between us, I didn't want you to _suffer_."

"I know," grinned the tan boy. "It took me a while to believe that, but I know. And it's really not that bad. I've been through worse storms before."

"Do you think…" the farmer paused. "I mean, do you think that I'd, y'know…"

"You'll end up in a place like this?" Kai finished for him without missing a beat. "No, I honestly don't think so. You've always been a lot more forgiving than me; you've always been willing to listen and learn, rather than talk and teach. I thought I knew it all, and while I won't doubt that I do know an awful lot of things, I'll admit I still have a lot to learn and accept."

Jack watched as Kai rose to his feet, furrowing his eyebrows in slight confusion. He blinked in even more perplexity when the tan boy grinned widely and stuck out his hand.

"So I'm offering you a truce now, Jack. A handshake to start things over. Because dead guys can hold terribly long grudges."

Before he could contain himself, the farmer felt an abrupt laugh erupt from his lips. Kai stood there stunned momentarily, before a grin returned on his face and he joined Jack, chuckling loudly along with the farmer. It was a strange concept, a strange scenario, for the two men to be laughing with one another, after all those years filled with bitterness and silent grudges held between them. It felt like a fresh start, finally.

Jack eventually took Kai's extended hand, and the two engaged in a quick, firm handshake, still smiling and laughing with one another. The sailor, appearing more than pleased, beamed at the brunet in sheer gratitude and once the chuckling and leftover laughter slowly died, Jack looked at Kai with a smile, asking, "do you think I'll see all of you once I pass over?"

"If you want," Kai answered, his eyes falling on a nearby window. The storm was over and judging by the light peaking over the ocean's horizon, it looked like morning was about to break any minute. "It all depends on what you want, Jack."

"I hope I'll see all of you," the brunet confirmed quietly, earning a grin from the tan boy in response.

Jack then stood to his feet, following the sailor out of the kitchen and back onto the main deck of the ship. The sun halfway surfaced on the horizon; hues of pink, orange, and yellow bled into one another as the calmed sea glistened beneath them. As the ship began to slow in preparation to dock once again, Kai slapped a hand on Jack's back, gaining the brunet's attention again. "Only one more person, Jack," he smiled.

"Yeah," Jack blinked, gazing back at the vast ocean. "Do you think it's the girl I tried saving? Right before I died?"

Kai shrugged earnestly, jerking forward slightly as the vessel came to a complete halt without warning. He regained his footing, slowly ushering Jack off the ship as he muttered, "I dunno. You'll have to see for yourself, I suppose. But always expect the unexpected." The farmer waved at him from the boardwalk of the dock, receiving a wave back from the sailor. "See you on the other side, Jack! Take care and I'm sorry for everything!"

"You too!" Jack called after, over the large roar from the departing ship.

He inhaled a long breath, feeling the insides of his stomach turn. This was his last stop, his last lesson, and he'd soon be able to start the final process of moving on. He wasn't sure what it would entail but he knew after all these lessons, and especially the last one he was certain he was about to encounter, he was more than ready and prepared.

Jack began to walk his final steps on the beach of Mineral Town.


End file.
